In this time of the internet, MOST words you need for your latin sentences can be found online. However, note I am just saying WORDS- google translate is awful at grammar! Which is why I'll try to teach you it.

"I like a boy" in latin is "Puer amo". Boy= puer, I like/love=Amo

The first thing you might notice is that four words just became two! Latin does not have 'articles', or 'a/the'. So if we were to translate "Puer amo", the actual meaning is just "I LIKE BOY". Much of latin translation relies on context, or just free interpretation. For example, this could be "I like THE boy" or "A boy"- both of which carry different connotations!

So, a/the doesn't exist in latin... why does 'I like' become 'Amo'?

Well. In english, verbs are paired with a pronoun (I, he, they, we) and the actual verb. I like, he hates, they run.

In latin, verbs HAVE a pronoun- as part of the word! This is perhaps the most important part of latin grammar, what google very rarely is able to do for you.

The base of a verb is called an 'infinitive'. From knowing the infinitive, you can know how to add any pronoun to a verb in any tense. 

We are sticking only to present tense right now.

The infinitive of "I like/love" is "Amare", which means "to like/love". All Infitives:

1. End in 're', usually 'ere' or 'are'

2. mean 'to (do something)'

So. From the words we now know, we could say "Amare puer", which means 'to love/like a boy'

But what if we wanted to say "SHE loves a boy"?

Well. We know the infinitive of 'like/love'. But we don't know how to CHANGE THE INFINITIVE to say anything other than "I like" (amo)

Here are the basic verb endings for latin:

-T=He/she

-S= You

-O= I

The other pronouns are They, We, and You All, but I'll cover them next time- they are plural.

So what next? We want to say "She loves a boy" (or he loves a boy, as the endings are the same- again, context is everything)

We take the infinitive Amare, and change the ending to a 'T'-

but wait, take a look at 'Amo'. 

The answer isn't Amaret!

In this case, it is "Amat". When changing from infinitives, you must first find the root of the word. Usually this is done by just removing the 'RE' ending.

So with this we know....

AMAT= He/she likes/loves

AMAS= You like/love

AMO= I like/love

AMARE= to like/love

Here are a few words to help you form some very basic sentences:

Puella= girl
Non= modifier that means 'not' (non amat= he does not like)
Et= and

Try writing "He likes the girl. He does not like a boy!"

We'll learn a few words that help with more complicated sentences next time!

Send me any questions.

Next chapter: Plurals! And questions?